Over the weekend some atrocities occurred in Charlottesville that make me want to scream and cry and rant and rage while at the same time curl up into a ball and weep - along with a huge number of Americans. But also, the terrorist attack in Burkina Faso that probably never made the news in America; the mudslide in Sierra Leone, the devastating famine in East and Southern Africa (how can we let people starve to death today?), the racism and sexism and hatred spewing all over this country and world... It is all tragic.
And if I screamed and ranted and raged all over about everything I find awful and wrong about the world... that is all I would do. ever.
But I don't see the point of that. Especially on social media. I am not a public figure nor do I have a following of people that in any way would be influenced by my calling out of atrocities. And going to marches or protests or whatever else? What is the point? What does that actually accomplish?
Read this New Yorker piece that is much better at asking that question than I am: Is there any point to protesting?
I'm not saying it's bad. Go march if it feels like it will fill something inside of you. But it seems like an empty action to me.
But I know the flip side. The flip side that says silence is supporting them, or our lives begin to end when we stay silent about things that matter (Martin Luther King Jr). I don't want to be silent either...
But anyone who knows me or knows even a little bit about me, I certainly hope, would never question my intentions. Anyone who knows me would know I stand for love and truth and hope and life and light and joy and peace and freedom. Silence isn't just about words. Silence is about actions. And I am a woman of action. Standing for what is right doesn't mean going to the local rally or demonstration, necessarily.
It looks like volunteering your time or resources to serve and love others, especially those who are different than you. That's what will change the world... not screaming your lungs out, but loving your life away. Go feed the hungry, or clothe the naked, or love the unloved, the forgotten, the widows, the orphans, the lonely... If you want there to be more love in the world... go put more love in the world. Go love the world.
At least, that's my take on it. And that's what I'm going to do. Join me.
Until next time...
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